I need some helpful advice for my new puppy.

[Smoker29]

I just adopted a 3 month old Husky/Shepherd and I need all the advice I can get. I got my last dog when I was 10 and my parents did most of the training, so I'm kind of playing it by ear.

I got a cool book called 101 puppy tips from the Animal Rescue Shelter which I'm going to read today and I plan to look on the web for some message boards etc, but if any of you have any tips you'd like to share, have at it.

I'd like to buy a specialty book on the dog, but I'm not sure which one to buy? Do I get the German Shepherd book or the Siberian Husky book? Maybe since it's a mix I shouldn't get either one?

Oh yeah, his name is Clarence and I'll try to post a picture of him later.

[Racer Greg]

Clarence is a good name for a dog. I had a chow/lab? mix that was named Clarence.

IMHO the best advice is to get a crate. The dog will end up up pretty big, so a crate for a large or xtra large dog would be a good idea. You can block it off for the puppy.

Don't worry, locking the pup in the crate when you can't observe him or engage him is not cruel or inhumane. He'll consider it his den and there will be times when he goes in there voluntarily to get away from it all.

Also, dogs tend not to soil their beds (tho' it does happen occasionally) helping you to control housebreaking. Setting up a scheduled feeding time will also help to regulate his digestive system and give some predictability to when he needs to go out.

Of course, you'll want to allow him plenty of exercise time and interaction time when he is out of the crate.

Socialization for a puppy is critical. If you want a well adjusted dog, you MUST start as a puppy. Puppy socialization and obedience classes are frequently offered at your local pet superstore. Worth its weight in gold. DO IT! You'll both be better for it.

Dogs are pack animals and you are part of his pack. This is important stuff and you can learn more about how this affects the dog when you go to the puppy socialization/obedience classes.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop now. :)

[DogStarMan]

Originally posted by Racer Greg
Socialization for a puppy is critical. If you want a well adjusted dog, you MUST start as a puppy. Puppy socialization and obedience classes are frequently offered at your local pet superstore. Worth its weight in gold. DO IT! You'll both be better for it.
Yep...I couldn't agree more. Socialization and introduction to new things is very important. Since you have a shephard mix, they will tend to be extremely protective of you, so you need to lock in what is and is not a threat from an early age. Find a dog park or look for "dog events" where you can take your dog and introduce it to other dogs. I don't know where you live, but a bunch of people and I meet every day at 5:30 at Belmont park and let our dogs run around for an hour or so. If you're in the area, you should join us.

Obedience training is also a must. It's alot of work, but you didn't think this would be easy did you? From the mix you have, it's gonna' be a very intelligent dog and should be easy to train. Training harnesses a dogs natural instinct to follow commands and it exercises their brains. Definitely look for trainers that believe in the positive reinforcement method...that is, reward for right behavior but don't scold for wrong behavior.

Have fun and good luck!

[Docta]

Originally posted by DogStarMan

"dog events"

this sounds naughty......

[Big Dog Daddy]

Smoker,

I think I may be of some help. Pardon me if this is long or I come off as a know it all. I currently have 12 dogs mostly (newfs and pyrs) at my house, so I do have a little backround in this.

First thing is he is a puppy and he will have accidents in the house, and him being a large breed mix he could have them from time to time until he is upwards of 1 year old. The large breeds when they go thru growth spurts stretches everything including the muscles that hold back pee. To keep this problem to a minimum crate train him and keep him on a schedule as much as possible while she is young. Take him from the crate right outside and watch him, when he goes to the bathroom praise him and play with him to teach him this is where it is apprpopriate to do this. Correcting them after they go in the house is of no value unless you cath them in the act. Then you tell them no and take them outside untill they do someting and then praise them. Keep his crate as small as possible until he shows she can control his bladder and bowels. Some will say it is cruel but in a natural/wild setting this is how puppies are handled by the parents.

His mix is pretty common so getting a book on both breeds would be helpful. He will probably show some traits of both. big warning on his coat. If his coat is more Husky than GSD(German Shepard Dog) do not shave him. THe books on huskies will tell you the same. This coat needs to be brushed out not shaved to help them stay cool.

Training is very inportant, he will be strong and somewhat large. You want your dog to understand that you are alpha in this arangment. Being large and part husky if you start to show fear he will pick up on this easliy and walk all over you. My wife and I may look wierd when doing this from time to time but dogs need to be taught in dog language. They think of us as stange looking dogs so we comunicate in terms they would understand. There is a book by some monks in Michigan who raise GSD who explain a lot of this but in short form if the puppy is getting out of line and need to corrected as to who is in charge you pick them up by the back of the neck. Put your head over their shoulders, reach inside their thighs, put your hands on their muzzle. These are all things an alpha dog does to show dominace. Our Geat Pyrenees were trained this way and now that they are adults if play is getting out of control or they think they run things we can grab them by the back of their neck and one them dead wieghts and falls to the ground in submission.The others just stop and go where we lead them. This is not mean just how they would be treated in a pack environment, afterall if mother nature had no intended them to be handled this wat she would on not giventhem all that skin there.

When it comes to teething get a variety of things for your puppy to try out till you find out what he really likes in our house we used "kongs" (hard rubber toy avaialbe at any pet supply store) and put peanut butter and dog cookies in them to keep them from chewing on couches and shoes and the such. If they chew on something that is inappropriate take it away and give them their chew toy. When they take the toy praise them. It will teach them that this is OK to chew on and will eventually leave your shoes and other things alone.

Last major item and i will get off my soapbox. Get him neutered. It eliminates the ability to get testicular cancer, lowers the aggresivness to a degree, and will not allow him to make more puppies by accident.

Big Dog Daddy
Mike

[Racer Greg]

Originally posted by Big Dog Daddy
Smoker,

Pardon me if this is long or I come off as a know it all.
Big Dog Daddy
Mike

Damn know-it-alls....

:p

Good info Mike.

[FOBAgain]

Originally posted by Big Dog Daddy
Smoker,

I think I may be of some help. Pardon me if this is long or I come off as a know it all. I currently have 12 dogs mostly (newfs and pyrs) at my house, so I do have a little backround in this.

There is a book by some monks in Michigan who raise GSD who explain a lot of this but in short form if the puppy is getting out of line and need to corrected as to who is in charge you pick them up by the back of the neck. Put your head over their shoulders, reach inside their thighs, put your hands on their muzzle. These are all things an alpha dog does to show dominace.

Big Dog Daddy
Mike


Wow! I'm impressed!! 12 newfs and pyrs! That's a LOT of dog!!

Obviously, I can't really add anything to that thorough advice, but I do have a question for you, Mike, since you seem like quite the dog expert! I have 1 dog - a 1.5 year old male Beagle - and wondered if this advice holds true for all breeds - about getting them to be the submissive member of the pack? The reason I ask is that, for the most part, our dog is very submissive, but twice in the past 3 months or so, he just "snaps" and starts growling and barking at me and even will come at me like he's going to try to bite me. I did nothing to provoke him either time - once he was just sitting on the couch and I went to move him an the second time, my fiance and I were getting ready for work and he jumped up on the bed, next to her, and when I came over to them, he went psycho. The weird thing is that after about 15 seconds of yelling at him to stop, he starts wagging his tail and jumping up for me to pet him. Any advice?

Brian

[Murphy]

Hey, Smoker, where ya been? Welcome back!

A great book is The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. Yes, it's by Monks who raise and breed german shepherds. I highly recommend it.

Also I second (third) the idea of obedience training. You could do it on your own, but when you know you have a weekly class to go to, it helps you remember to do your "homework". We used Victory K-9 Academy, and liked it a lot. It is run by a woman named Joan who lives up in Colerain, not too far from the 275 interchange. It was I think a 6 or 8 week class that met once a week.

We didn't crate our dog because she would go nuts, rubbing against the crate until she made her nose bleed. We got her when she was a little older though, so maybe this was part of the problem. It was rough not crating her though, since we were gone so much during the day. We resulted in probably close to $1000 worth of damage in chewed up shoes, furniture, etc. throughout her puppyhood. She is still a great doggie and we love her though!! :D

have fun!

[Murphy]

Also, I agree with big Dog Daddy -
Kongs are excellent chew toys! Our dog who can chew through about anything has not been able to destroy a Kong we got about 4 months ago. She loves that thing!

[DogStarMan]

We wasted money on Kongs...my dog won't have anything to do with them. She'd rather chew the insoles out of our shoes....go figure :rolleyes:

[Big Dog Daddy]

FOB,
in regards to your question about teaching your dog to be submisive. I wish I could say a dog is a dog, but that is not 100% true. Beagles are a pack dog at its finest. That is why they use them to hunt in groups. They play follow the leader ans smell as good as almost any breed. Teaching your dog to be submisive once it is an adult is harder. It can be done but takes much more patients. If a dog has never been handled like that during its upbringing, they can get a little (more like a lot) agitated. Beagles can be taught to respect being "scruffed". The part about him "snapping" at you is typical in any dog pack. If a lower rankiing dog does not challenge it will never get to be top dog. This sound like to me your dogs way of seeing if you are willing to back up your position on top of the pack. One of our Pyrs we nicknamed "grumpy F#ck" because when he gets comfortable in a position or he wants to do something. he can be a real handful. We picked him up at the pound and he was never taught the submissive stuff. He now will calm down if you do not push to hard. Don't let him win, but don't let him realize he is losing.

For clarification the dog count goes like this
6 Pyrs
2 Newf
2 Austrailian Sheperds
1 Golden Retriever
1 Pyr mix

BDD
mike

[kickinitlive]

Originally posted by FOBAgain



Wow! I'm impressed!! 12 newfs and pyrs! That's a LOT of dog!!

Obviously, I can't really add anything to that thorough advice, but I do have a question for you, Mike, since you seem like quite the dog expert! I have 1 dog - a 1.5 year old male Beagle - and wondered if this advice holds true for all breeds - about getting them to be the submissive member of the pack? The reason I ask is that, for the most part, our dog is very submissive, but twice in the past 3 months or so, he just "snaps" and starts growling and barking at me and even will come at me like he's going to try to bite me. I did nothing to provoke him either time - once he was just sitting on the couch and I went to move him an the second time, my fiance and I were getting ready for work and he jumped up on the bed, next to her, and when I came over to them, he went psycho. The weird thing is that after about 15 seconds of yelling at him to stop, he starts wagging his tail and jumping up for me to pet him. Any advice?

Brian


that's certainly a bold question, brian

[berzerker]

Lotsa good advice there.

I'll second some stuff here-
-crate train him,
-socialize him with people and other dogs. they are big time pack animals, and they need to interact to establish these skills early.
-treat him like a family member, which may result in pretending that you are a dog. Thats something he can understand. Also, it's fun to act like a dog sometimes.
-obedience is important, especially with a large dog.
-let him be a dog sometimes.
-shepards / huskies are very smart animals. sometimes too smart.

We have friends with a German Sheperd, and he is so protective, that if there's any other person in the house other than Jill, he can / will attack. Even her husband at times.

[Smoker29]

Thanks for all the great advice. I'd comment more, but I've gotta run!

I just attatched a picture. If you see my wife, don't tell her she's in it because she'd kill me for putting this picture up on the web. :D

[Smoker29]

.....at least I thought I posted a picture?

[FOBAgain]

Originally posted by kickinitlive


that's certainly a bold question, brian

Ah, yes, it was bold... but was it daring????

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used by Frito-Lay, Inc. © Recot, Inc. 2001, 2002. All Rights Reserved.

[Jeff]

The Art of Raising Puppies is a great book.

Remember that most things a dog does that is 'bad' is your fault. Chewing on shoes - don't leave them out. In the trash, don't leave it out. Don't attribute human traits to the dog. She's a dog. Be smarter and learn to roll with her till she's out grown the destructive phase. Beating a dog is never exceptable. Being a Husky/Shepard she's probably gonna shed like a motherfucker, so brush her out regularly or vacuum the house everyday (and most dogs love to be vacuumed). Learn how to snip her nails and clean her teeth. Make her your best friend. Bring her over - I have two acres fenced in. She can play with our 1 year old still incredibly immature shepard mix and dig all the holes she wants. We'll play guitars. Maybe she'll learn how to rout out moles.

[Smoker29]

Murphy, thanks for noticing that I've been gone for a while. I knew I liked you.

Jeff, thanks for the offer. I may very well have to take you up on that.

Everyone else, thanks for the great advice. My puppy is starting to get the hang of it.

By the way, we adopted him through the new Fairfield Animal Care Center. I've had nothing but great experiences with them so far. Their page is not up yet, but check them out in the future at http://www.animalcarecenters.net

[kickinitlive]

Originally posted by FOBAgain


Ah, yes, it was bold... but was it daring????

DORITOS, DORITOS EXTREME, DORITOS Logo and BOLD AND DARING are trademarks
used by Frito-Lay, Inc. © Recot, Inc. 2001, 2002. All Rights Reserved.

ow, my head

[Smoker29]

Here are some pictures of Clarence at Image Station. If you're not a member, it only takes a second to register and it's free.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291271387

[Big Dog Daddy]

There is no such thing as an ugly puppy, (too bad the same can't be said of human offspring). Enjoy him and rember the quote.

You can buy a dog , but you can not buy the wag of its tail.

BDD
mike

[Smoker29]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread for my 80 lb puppy's first b-day.

Clarence is a bonehead but we love him.

Here's a pic from Caesar’s Creek. He was too much of a chicken to go in the water with us.

[Smoker29]

Oops, here it is:

[Smoker29]

This one looks like he's howling at the moon, but we're spraying water in his mouth with a squirt bottle. It drives him nuts.

[miami2112]

well, how is he now? must be, what, 6 yrs old?

[Smoker29]

Ha! I just noticed that you bumped my old thread.

Clarence is doing great! He has survuved the move to Viriginia and has mellowed out a great deal compared to the early years when he was a pup. He is now 6 years old and 98 pounds. He's been great with our daughters.